TIII Back-to-School Series: Visual Orientation Handbook
I absolutely love this idea of a visual orientation handbook, shared with me by Silvia Tamminen, coordinator at the Aurora Public Schools (APS) Welcome Center in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado.
The Aurora Public Schools (APS) Welcome Center supports one of the most diverse student populations in the country. This demographic includes a large number of folks resettled refugee status. The district is now home to students from all over the world, with especially robust cultural representation from Bhutan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Myanmar, Côte d’ Ivoire, and Eritrea.
Families with school-aged children who are new to the district and also new to the English language are directly referred to the APS Welcome Center. Staff guide Newcomer families through the processes of student registration and school orientation.
Sylvia Timmenem heads this effort. She’s a human rights professional with a concentration on refugee and migration issues. Her knowledge of policy and practice is evident. But she’s also approachable and down-to-earth, with a bold, welcoming smile. As I glance through her workspace, I notice elements of her Fin culture.
“Immigration is something I share with our clients,” she tells me. But she’s also quick to point out that while there are some parallels, her path to America was smoother than many of those she sees in her day-to-day work. Sylvia is deeply aware of the privilege that comes with choice, with a previous knowledge of the English language, and even her appearance. Nonetheless, she does have an understanding of just how complex and overwhelming the immgration process can be. This awareness adds an additional layer of humanity to her interactions.
Sylivia came on board with the APS Welcome Center program in its inaugural season. She and her team built the organization from the bones up. The visual orientation handbook is among the group’s creative, solution-seeking efforts.
The handbook is a non-consumable resource with a permanent home in Sylvia’s office. It is composed of full-page photos and illustrations, slid into sheet protectors and organized into a three-ring binder. Each image is captioned with a simple explanation, which is (or can be) easily translated into a preferred language. Sylvia or another APS staff member reads the book alongside incoming families (and a translator, if requested). Page by page, the tool lays out the expectations for a typical school day.
For example, one picture shows a group of students sitting on the ground listening to a read-aloud. The caption reads, “Sometimes, students sit on the carpet during the school day.”
This was an important inclusion, Sylvia assured me. “Many times our parents cannot believe that their child would sit on the floor to learn anything. In some of their own countries, that would be very strange and maybe make a parent very angry.” She points out that often these seemingly “everyday” aspects of the school day can be overlooked. But in the context of welcoming families from culturally diverse backgrounds, taking the time to explicitly detail various aspects of the school experience can go a long way.
Here are some other situations included in the APS visual orientation handbook:
Kids receiving lunch on a tray (many recently arrived learners would have gone home for lunch or packed their own meal)
Young adults putting their supplies in lockers (this may be a first-time experience for many)
Students arriving for school at or before the scheduled time (concepts of time and urgency around timeliness varies greatly from one culture and context to another)
Photos of co-ed teaching staff (learners and their families may have culturally influenced expectations about the appearance of those in teacher and leadership roles).
There are plenty more great ideas. Check them out in the Aurora Welcome Center’s comprehensive list below!
Could you duplicate this resource at your site? As long as you have a camera and a few hours to spare, of course! (Just be sure to send out a thank you to the APS Welcome Center for the idea. Find them here: http://welcomecenter.aurorak12.org)
This version was created by staff. But other great options might include:
Inviting former Newcomers to take this on as a project (a modernized “buddy” system)
Creating a digital and/or interactive version of the handbook
Engaging teacher teams in creating grade-level welcoming handbooks
And here are a few examples of what that might look like in actuality!
(Adapted with permission from Aurora Welcome Center: Refugee, Immigrant and Community Integration. Photos copyright @DiversifiED Consulting)
Resources for AntiRacist Education
There is so much grief. Heartbreak over the fact that this conversation is still necessary. That black and brown folx are still under occupation. That education is still censored to fit the mold of a racist status quo. That we still have so much work to do.
This is the tragic legacy of education. We wait to pursue authentic change until the ish hits the fan. We’re a reactive institution, not a proactive one. In fact, we’ve taken a reactive approach across other uncomfortable and inconvenient paths, too (think: Emergent Lingual education, immigrant parent engagement, trauma-informed practice). Haven’t we learned anything?
Here. Now. We have an opportunity to alter the course, to right the ship, to challenge the dialogue, to get really uncomfortable… and then push through it.
White folx: This can’t happen unless we’re ready to get real with our role in the problem. To do this, we have to systematically untangle the narratives of privilege and racism that are embedded in every facet of our lives.
We have to create authentic urgency around the need to disrupt inequity and assume ownership of our explicit and implicit participation in racism. Because no matter how we cut it, we are inactive enablers at best, and outright inciters at worst.
As someone who makes a living facilitating tough conversations around race, bias, racism, and culturally responsive practice, I’ve enjoyed a good jump start on evaluating my own deeply embedded biases, privilege, and contributions to a racist society.
All that’s clear is that I- and we- still have so far to grow. Still, here’s what I’ve learned so far:
Understand the language of cultural identity. Race, ethnicity, nationality, heritage, and culture and not interchangeable concepts. Looking for clarity and an implementable classroom exercise? Here’s a start point.
Sit in your bias. Recognize it. Call it out. Be brave enough to confront it. Develop tools to defeat it. Know that change is hard and remember that a solid tribe can help you push through it. Repeat. Ready for a wake-up? Read this guy (more resources available on his website @ https://www.mrtomrad.com/). Ready to call out your own privilege and bias? Here’s an entry-level tool.
Become the student. Especially when we’re talking about our own students. What is another person’s truth? Do we authentically HEAR and validate it as truth? What is their story? The (non-white washed) story of their ancestors? What is the role of voice (not our own) in our teaching practice?
Re-read the story. What parts of the #BLM and antiracist narrative do we (white folx) selectively hear? As educators, what parts of our students’ stories are we ignorant to and/or explicitly or implicitly reject?
Educators: If we are truly trauma-informed, where does race-based trauma fit into our framework for student care, if at all? The two can no longer live in separate boxes. They’ve always been bound, even as we’ve fought to silence the traumas of racism. The game’s over.
Let’s be honest. We’ll do anything to avoid talking about race in schools. The system is created so that we actually fear the professional repercussions of engaging students in race-based dialogue. And many of us simply fear messing it up. But avoiding the discussion is engaging in the problem. We HAVE to talk about it. We HAVE to model transparency in our own socio-emotional growth. Start here.
Create unapologetic space for the language of antiracism. It must live in and be critically evaluated within the context of authentic daily experience. Yes, we WILL make mistakes. But we have to start somewhere, and it has to be now.
Dissect your curriculum, including socio-emotional frameworks. Often, even our best efforts to combat trauma and injustice are blatantly whitewashed. But we’ve got to get out of the trees in order to see the forest. Need clarity? Check out this article (or others) from Dena Simmons.
Join or create a race-based caucus /affinity group (just be sure you have some clear guidance in this practice). Not sure what this is? Read this article and continue the journey with this reading.
On leaders approaching the topic: “Use words that explicitly name racial violence. Do not soften the intensity of systemic racism with broad language about diversity, equity, and inclusion. If the statement does not include words such as “racism,” “racist,” “white supremacy,” or “anti-Blackness,” it is insufficient and therefore should be revised.” https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/06/02/6-considerations-school-leaders-statement-george-floyd-.html
Put your money/power/vote where your mouth is. Seek out causes, people, & businesses that accelerate #BLM progress. Support relentlessly. (Most states have a minority-owned business directory available online).
A few favorite follows for educators: @teachtolerance, @embracerace, @zarettahammond, @MrTomRad, @DenaSimmons.
Mitigating Student Trauma in the Virtual Classroom
The most common question on deck these days: How do I go about minimizing student trauma in the virtual setting?
Of course, this is a loaded question. So let’s start by laying a foundation. Here are the most practical ways to get started (or to boost your existing trauma-informed practice).
Reframe the conversation: Mitigating trauma isn't about fixing broken things. It's about restoring power. The distinction is critical. This power belongs to our students, and they’ve owned it all along. Sometimes it gets interrupted. We can see ourselves as technicians, trained to employ tools that can help to get the power-up and running again. The next step: turn those Power Restoration tools over to our students.
Get Brainy: Don't underestimate the power that comes from understanding the human brain. Set aside the time. Open the conversation. Invite students to become observers of their own thinking (metacognition). Practice non-judgmental recognition of fight-flight-freeze-submit responses. Experiment with trauma minimizing strategies in a safe space to discover 'just right' fits.
Resources:
Elementary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_dxnYhdyuY
Upper Grades Parts of the Brain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CpRY9-M
Upper Grades Fight-Flight-Freeze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpolpKTWrp4
Elementary Journal: What Survival Looks Like for Me (Inner World Work): http://www.innerworldwork.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/What-survival-looks-like...-for-me-3.pdf
Upper Grades Journal: What Survival Looks Like In Secondary School (Inner World Work): http://www.innerworldwork.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Survival-In-Secondary-School.pdf
Practice Predictability: YOU show up day after day. Remember that this seemingly simple act goes a long way in minimizing the impacts of trauma for our students. The consistency of your presence and the routine you strive for in daily learning is critical. Preemptively signal upcoming changes, where possible. Predictability fosters trust. Trust lends itself to safety. And when students feel safe, they are able to learn.
Host a Restore Your Power Space: Create a space or folder in whatever virtual platform you're using. House Power Restoration tools here and encourage students to visit, even when school's not in session. Digital black-out or magnetic poetry, drawing/sketchnoting tools, guided bilateral movements, and SEL-based calming strategies are all good fits here. Looking for more resources and strategies? Explore our blog and stay tuned for our upcoming book on this topic with ASCD (due early 2021).
Resources:
Mitigating Transition Shock in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Settings. Louise El Yaafouri (DiversifiED Consulting) and Saddleback Education: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9KxIFECSF8
Edutopia: Strategies for Easing Transition Shock by Louise El Yaafouri (DiversifiED Consulting) https://www.edutopia.org/article/strategies-easing-transition-shock
Art Therapy ideas: https://diversifi-ed.com/explore/2018/10/1/art-therapy-for-trauma-in-the-classroom
Recommended at-home resource: http://www.innerworldwork.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/What-Survival-Looks-Like-At-Home-Quick-Printout.pdf
What Is Sheltered Instruction?
Effective Recent Arriver programming is structured with the principles of sheltered instruction in mind. These techniques are not tethered to an exclusive program or curriculum. Rather, they are tools for teaching and learning that can be applied to and incorporated into any existing program to explicitly promote language development. All sheltering strategies are centered around the primary goal of increasing Emergent Multiinguals’ access to (and demonstrated mastery of) essential knowledge- without compromising the integrity of the content lesson.
Strategies that are associated with this pedagogy foster academically focused student talk, intra and interdependent problem-solving skills, effective collaboration, and healthy cross-cultural communication skill development. These practices benefit Recent Arriver and traditional students alike and can be modified to support learners across a range of language, grade, and skill levels.
Where Did the Term Sheltered Instruction Come From?
Sheltered instruction is a manifestation of the Comprehension Hypothesis for language learning. The Comprehension Hypothesis is rooted in the idea that “we acquire language when we understand messages containing aspects of language that we have not acquired, but are developmentally ready to acquire.” (Krashen, 2013). That is, language learning best occurs in natural settings, drawing holistically from what we hear and read. It develops via exposure to comprehensible input, or bite-sized digestible pieces of language understanding.
This is in direct contrast to the skill-building theory, which presses for direct, rote learning of grammar, vocabulary and spelling knowledge. Briefly, skill-building strategies are conscious measures, while comprehension-based learning is subconscious and indirect. Research overwhelmingly indicates that language learning is enhanced and accelerated when Comprehension Hypothesis methods are applied. In fact, evidence shows that,
“Students in beginning-level second language classes based on the Comprehension Hypothesis consistently outperform students in classes based on skill-building tests of communication, and do at least as well as, and often slightly better than, students in skills-based classes on tests of grammar.” (Krashen, 2003)
Sheltered instruction is directly representative of Comprehension Hypothesis ideals. Its primary goal is to provide language learners with a comprehensible input through the implementation of specific instructional tools and practices. Sheltered instruction is critical in the context of Newcomer instruction in that it focuses on content over language.
When students are exposed to content knowledge in comprehensible ways, appropriate language output is a holistic byproduct. Additionally, anxiety and pressure to learn the new language may be significantly diffused in sheltered subject matter settings. In fact, “Students in sheltered subject matter classes acquire as much language or more language than students in traditional [ESL-direct] classes and also learn impressive amounts of subject matter”. (Krashen, 2013, 1991; Dupuy, 2000)
So, what does sheltered instruction look like in the classroom?
Sheltered, or scaffolded, instructional practices engage emergent bilinguals and multilinguals in the rigorous content investigation. It can encompass a wide range of instructional techniques, each aimed at guiding and directing language learners toward proficiency, within an environment that endorses safety and facilitated risk-taking.
At the crux of impactful scaffolded instruction are effective content language learning objectives, which can be incorporated into every subject, each day. These cornerstones provide a powerful sense of directionality for both the educator and the learner and fuel a focused sense of productivity.
Basic elements of sheltered instruction include:
appropriate pacing;
modified speech;
routine and predictability;
use of visuals, realia, and manipulatives;
explicitly introduced body language, gestures, and facial cues;
sentence stems;
relevant language supportive technology;
modeling;
traditional or interactive word walls;
interactive notebooking;
multiple modes of assessment/means of demonstrating understanding;
graphic organizers (such as Frayer models, Venn Diagrams or word-mapping);
co-operative talk structures, such as inside-outside circles, fishbowls, numbered heads (download your cheat sheet here);
SIOP lesson planning, or “Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol” (Echevarria & Short), is frequently implemented as part of sheltered-instruction instruction.
When we integrate sheltering techniques into existing curricula and classroom protocol, we invite emergent bilingual and multilingual students to engage with intention and purpose, in ways that highlight existing funds of knowledge. We also support team building and interpersonal skills, which lend themselves to healthy integration. Perhaps most importantly, sheltering strategies can be overlapped with other pedagogies, such as culturally responsive teaching and learning, leading to especially dynamic socio-academic student outcomes.
For detailed information on Sheltered Instruction techniques, see The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s Guide to Aid Transition, Chapters 6-8
Download your Co-Operative Learning Cheat Sheet HERE.
5 Tenets of Teacher Self-Care (and the mistakes that helped me discover them)
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Here it is: we are not superhuman.
Educators, as an occupational whole, tend to submerge this truth. We ignore it, push it away, and look the other direction even as it sinks down into the recesses of our thinking.
And so, we educators require frequent reminders of our vulnerability- and more than that, encouragement that our humanness is a spectacular mark of endurance, bravery, and triumph. After all, we’re living the process: trekking the course, failing forward, making small (and giant) moves toward success. Heck, we’re shaping spectacular generations of tiny humans and young adults.
Isn’t that enough?
One might think. We might think. So, how are we such experts at forgetting our own freaking fabulousness?
Ladies and gents, it’s time to turn a page, to support one another, and to make it a movement. We owe ourselves some delicious self-appreciation. We need to be reminded that perfectionism is not our ally in teaching. In fact, sometimes a bit of disaster or delay or detour is its own kind of perfect. Sometimes, these are healthy indicators that authentic learning is taking place.
We didn’t sign up for a competition of Pintrest-y brilliance or TPT worthiness. We signed up to grow young people into decent, well-rounded adult human beings. How can we possibly expect that process to be neat and tidy? Anyone have completely a drama-free kiddo out there? ‘Cause I’ve never known one. In any event, why would we want a totally systematic, predictable standard for education? Sounds pretty dull (and not particularly effective).
On this rant about perfection: what is it exactly that we’re aiming for? Who are the chosen few who get to decide what that is or what that looks like? Show me a perfect textbook, a perfect curriculum, a perfect approach- and I’ll show you fifteen people ready to argue against it. So again, where are we going with this whole ‘be the best’ race?
The best is us, teachers. Right now, as we are and as we are growing to be. And damn it, we’re not the kind of perfect that rubrics were made for.
So we’ve got to give ourselves some grace. We’ve got to let the sweat run down our cheeks without being embarrassed about it. This business that we’re in requires effort. A ridiculous amount of it. Sometimes it overwhelms us. And that’s ok. (I know I’m not the only one to fight back- or fail to fight back- some super sneaky tears in the classroom.)
When we follow the good advice of putting our own oxygen masks on first, our students are the beneficiaries.
Let’s start simply, by embedding these simple practices into our daily craft:
1. Do unto yourself as you do unto others.
How are we inclined to talk to our students- with sarcasm and criticism or with kindness and encouragement? How do we view our students- from a deficit lens or an asset lens? How do we define our students’ success- by a narrowly prescribed definition or according to gains along a personalized growth trajectory?
Yeah, we know the response. We’re educators, right? So, let’s turn it around on ourselves. Imagine: What if we talked to, reacted to, and supported ourselves in the same manner that we do our students?
This is harder than it sounds. We’ve trained ourselves into becoming hypercritical of our teacher-self-worth.
Stop.
What did you survive today? What went incredibly right? How has your craft improved over the last year, month, or week? Whose morning did you turn around with a hug, smile, or kind word? Who did you potentially spare from a not-so-great decision?
Take a few moments to celebrate you. Check yourself in your self-talk. Would you say this to your student? Reframe, rephrase, and fill up your cup. You’ve earned every last bit of it.
2. Embrace collectivism.
Like it or not, folks, we’re in this together. My favorite Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.”
Sisters and brothers of our craft, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. So, seek out people that you want to be on this ride with. Who makes you excited about your role and the work that you’re doing? Who’s your venting ear? Who’s the cheerleader? The joker? The advice-giver? The walking ELD standards encyclopedia? The mentee under your wing?
Find and foster these relationships. You don’t have to be besties outside of school. Shoot, you don’t even have to have each other’s phone numbers (although that’s fun, too).
Then, put yourselves on the same team. You’re all going for one goal- student success. Everybody on the team has a role, which is to meet students where they are from his or her unique vantage point and with his or her unique set of tools. Each person is necessary to the others in the aim of achieving the goal.
In this context, competition is irrelevant. Not only this, but it can also compromise the team’s ability to reach the goal. Leaning exclusively on neatly-packaged curricula also loses its meaning. We are the tools we need to reach and teach our learners. The textbooks and Google slides and lesson plans and Zoom sessions aren’t the master plan- they are supplementary materials.
Learn about your teammates’ strengths. Instead of aiming to outdo their efforts (guilty as charged), learn to leverage these assets in building consistency and getting through to kids. Ask for a shared sub day and spend an hour in one another’s classrooms if you’re able. Allow a few minutes within team planning time to just be present in cultivating relationships. You might look outside of the building, too. Twitter is a great place to expand your professional learning network and maybe even discover a few new members of your clan.
Also, don’t be an ass. Your tribe doesn’t need it, and neither do you.
3. Set down the assessments (just for a minute).
Here are a few bright spots in my teaching career: I consistently had the lowest standardized testing scores of all same-grade classrooms at our school over a nine-year period, and I was barely rated an “Approaching” level teacher six years into my practice.
Ok. Let’s talk about this. Those low scores- 100% of my students each year were refugee and immigrant newcomers. Heck no, they weren’t able to keep up on those tests (*at first…but watch them soar now). “Welcome to America, kids... here’s your test.” Then, the digital assessments came around. Jiminy, half of my kids had never used a desktop in their lives. The first thirty minutes of an online test is an exercise in how not to sword fight with a computer mouse.
You know what those tests didn’t show (or at least, didn’t make room to celebrate)? Growth. Like, crazy out of control multi-year gains in nine months kind of growth.
How about those teacher evaluations? Three weeks before that mediocre evaluation I was rated “Effective” by a different district evaluator. And two weeks after the “Approaching” mark (which I cried and whined to my tribe over), another administrator found me to be “Distinguished” (the highest-rated evaluation score in our district).
So, which one am I? Best guess... probably somewhere in the middle, leaning toward pretty freaking good. I mean, I sure didn’t jump the scales of expertise in 2 weeks- and I probably wasn’t as ineffective as I’d led myself to believe after that ‘off’ evaluation, either.
Here’s the deal: assessments and evaluations are what we make of them. Do we learn something? Do we make a plan to improve and grow? Great.
Should we give away our power to them and let them stress us out? Nope.
We encourage our students to see their self worth as something that is independent of an isolated data point (or any other statistic, for that matter). Dear educators: if we’re going to pull that equity card, then we’d better start making room for ourselves in that grand philosophy, too. Um, are you listening in on this, too, admin? That also goes for what we put on our Ts.
4. Maintain high expectations, but lower the risk.
Here’s another one we practice with our students, right? We know that in order to enable our learners as positive risk-takers, we need to:
Create an environment of safety and trust;
Offer choice and support; and
Not make it a super freaking scary thing to do.
So where’s the self-love?
Again, let’s go back to how we treat others. How do we make leap-taking a little less intimidating for our students?. We provide high yield opportunities in low-drama settings. We encourage multiple means of demonstrating proficiency. (What works in one class setting may not be what my newcomer students- or what your kiddos- need right now.) We model cooperative learning and constructive conversation... including those talks with the ol’ self.
We, teachers- we’re great at a lot of things. Self-care isn’t usually on that list. It’s like it’s part of the standard educator’s playbook: students first = self last.
No and no. Take that page out. Burn it. Start a new story.
Yes- hold yourself accountable. Do aim for greatness. But damn it, give yourself some freaking wiggle room. Wrap your own anticipated growth up in the same fabric of fun and curiosity that you would for your students. Anxiety should not be a badge of teaching honor.
5. Recognize discomfort, but don’t let it define the situation.
Quick story: Long ago, in my first year of teaching refugee newcomers, I had the brilliant first-day-of-school idea to sit eight students from Myanmar (Burma) together at the same table so that they could “help each other out”. How’d that work out for us, you ask?
Well, it didn’t. The eight students spoke five different languages and came from six distinct cultures. They were also at literal war with each other in the real world.
Talk about a hitch in the classroom-management flow. But here’s the thing: we got through it. We eventually adjusted, learned some new ways of coping, adopted a few healthy communication tools, and had a really awesome year. Some of those nine-year-olds even became viable bridges between the tribes that existed in their own apartment communities.
That discomfort was like a fertilizer for our growth. And, of course, the best fertilizer is a pile of... super smelly business.
Let’s not sugar coat the situation. Our work is hard. Like, really freaking hard. Some moments are rougher than others. Some days we come up short. And sometimes, there’s not a dang thing we can do about it.
But did we go back into the ring?
If the answer is yes, stop there. That’s the game-changer.
Thanks, educators, for doing what you do: for showing up for our kids, for creating safe spaces, for co-constructing our collective futures. Now, go take care of yourself for a minute, will you?
You deserve it.
Inquiry-Based Learning with ELLs
Teachers who aim to engage English learners in inquiry-based learning often feel overwhelmed at the idea of merging two seemingly separate bands of learning. However, upon closer examination, there is a significant overlap in best-practices facilitation of English Language Development (ELD) and student-led discovery. In fact, language acquisition and inquisition do not need to be exclusive- they can (and should!) work in tandem to support one other. Moreover, this can be achieved without dramatic increases in time, resources or teacher planning.
Let’s begin by identifying the six stages of inquiry: planning, retrieving, processing, creating, sharing, and evaluating. Within each stage, we’ll explore possible implications for ELLs and outline ideas for inclusive implementation.
Planning
Planning creates the foundation for the entire process of inquiry. It begins with the students, as they learn to recognize their own interests and question their own curiosities. For English learners, effective participation in the planning process also means navigating conversational, academic, and content-specific vocabulary. It also requires an ability to navigate strategic or organizational skill sets, and these may be working concepts for students with limited or interrupted education.
Engage ELLs: Utilize graphic organizers and tech tools to assist brainstorming and planning. Provide meaningful conversation prompts. Employ vision boards, interactive word walls, or similar visual cues. Provide opportunities to talk through ideas using cooperative structures.
Retrieving
To move forward in discovery, students must actively pursue information that is relevant to their inquisition. For new-to-English learners, this process can be hyper-stimulating and may overwhelm the student’s capacity to self-direct. Often, the teacher's response is to jump in, influencing the inquiry process with his or her own thoughts and diminishing the student’s opportunities for agency. Shifting this responsibility back to the student requires that we explicitly prepare ELLs to successfully retrieve information. We facilitate this process by lowering affective filters and establishing reliable processing routines.
Engage ELLs: Clearly explain and demonstrate the process of information retrieval. Explicitly teach and model self-directing strategies. Limit the amount of information a student has access to in the early stages (for example, encourage students to select ONE print, ONE online and ONE video source). Create opportunities for small group discovery and exchange.
Processing
The processing component of the inquiry phase calls upon learners to focus ideas and information into a central topic for investigation. Alberta Education writes, “Coming to a focus can be very difficult for students, as it involves more than just narrowing the topic; it involves coming to an authentic question, a personal perspective or a compelling thesis statement.” This aim can be especially challenging for ELLs, who are already juggling conversational English and content vocabulary- and who must now navigate and employ the language of inquiry. Additionally, students may encounter cultural implications tied to sorting, organizing and condensing the information into a central theme.
Engage ELLs: Employ graphic organizers to narrow down a topic. Allow for multi-modal processing, including kinesthetic and/or experiential learning, community interviews, and small group work. Recognize culturally variant patterns in sorting/organizing and support culturally responsive means to an end.
Creating
The creating phase begins the active second half of the inquiry process. In this stage, learners begin to build momentum and confidence in their quest for discovery. The creating phase is threefold:
● Identifying and arranging relevant pieces of information
● Determining a presentation format that highlights the targeted inquiry
● Crafting written and oral expressions of ideas, questions, and concepts
English learners are likely to benefit from precise supports and scaffolds in this process, specifically in the domains of reading and writing. Laying the essential groundwork at the beginning of this process enables students to self-guide with efficacy- and also significantly reduces teacher workload.
Engage ELLs: Establish clear systems, protocols, expectations and performance rubrics. Employ kinesthetic and/or tech-based storyboard. Offer a wide range of presentation options, including culturally responsive means of expression. Explicitly support students in the areas of speaking and writing.
Sharing
School-based inquiry culminates in the sharing of findings, conclusions, and thoughts on the process of discovery. Multi-modal sharing of outcomes is encouraged; presentations may take any number of sensory-engaging forms. Regardless of the format, presenters and audience members must turn to language as the conduit for information transfer. In this context, speaking and listening domains are emphasized.
Engage ELLs: Support learners with rubrics for speaking and listening. Provide opportunities to restate/summarize/paraphrase the presented material. Refer to anchor charts, interactive word walls, and other content language resources. Clarify information as needed. Allow for a variety of ways to demonstrate comprehension, both as a presenter and audience member.
The six stages of the inquiry process are tied together by reflection.
Reflection is a metacognitive property that can be employed as a useful learning tool. In most cases, reflective thinking must be explicitly taught and modeled- at least in the initial stages of application. It is helpful to enact a standard process and predictable language bank for reflection. In this way, we can invite students to reflect at the culmination of each stage. Eventually, learners can apply these skills in sustained ways as they consider strategy and outcomes throughout the entire inquiry process.
If we look closely enough, the relationship between inquisition and language acquisition becomes evident. With a few thoughtful considerations, we can successfully plan for engaging, language supported discovery. We can champion inquiry-based efficacy and 21st-century success for all new-to-English learners.
Newcomer / Recent Arriver Classroom Reminders
We’re into the thick of the year. It’s a great place to pause and reflect on our practice so far this school year and how we will grow our students in the remainder of our time together. It’s a great time for Newcomer/Recent Arriver classroom reminders! Here, we’ll look at the non-negotiables.
What would you add? Be sure to share your thoughts below.
FOUNDATION
Classroom culture drives learning. Newcomer students thrive in classrooms that are safe, structured and predictable. In fact, predictability is a cornerstone of positive school engagement. Predictability breeds trust, trust lends itself to safety, and safety opens students up to entertain curiosity, absorb content and practice positive risk-taking in the classroom.
DIRECTION
It is important to lead with a plan and to ensure that the plan supports equitable participation for all students, including students who are new to the English language. Content–Language Objectives (CLOs) are an effective tool for creating a specific language focus (with the purpose of enhancing content accessibility for ELLs). They are widely flexible and can be implemented across all grades/subjects and for any number of ELs in a class. Content–Language Objectives guide lesson planning and ground student understanding throughout the lesson.
PLANNING
In preparing for English Language instruction, there is a tendency to over plan. When it comes to lesson planning, aim for relevance and quality, not quantity. Return to the Content-Language Objectives. Ask: 1. What one strategy will be most useful to my learners in making the key content more digestible? 2. What one strategy will my students use to demonstrate the language objective within the target language domain (reading, writing, speaking, listening)?
Can more than one strategy be implemented? Of course! Just be sure to aim for clarity. If things start feeling jumbled or unclear, return to your one original focus for each question. Our students will always perform better when they know exactly what is expected of them.
COMMUNICATION
It’s important to keep in mind the amount of fo language that students encounter in a given school day. Beyond the conversational language that must be learned to navigate the bus, playground or lunchroom, learners encounter languages within the language throughout the entire school day.
Let me explain. If conversational English (with its slang, reduced speech and media influences) is a tongue, so is the Language of Mathematics. Isosceles, divisor, and equation are not words students are likely to pick up in their informal conversations. This type of (academic) vocabulary must be explicitly taught. And if Math is a tongue, then so is the Language of Social Studies, the Language of Music, the Language of English Literature, and so on.
Our students encounter thousands of words in a day. For ELLs, this can be especially overwhelming. To reduce the language load, we can be intentional about listening to ourselves. How might we describe the rate and complexity of our speech? How can it be modified for clarity?
In short, here’s what we’re aiming for: Speech should be clear, deliberate and unrushed. (Side note: Louder or painfully elongated speech is not helpful.)
EXPRESSION
Language encompasses so much more than just vocabulary. Tone, register, slang, cultural cues, humor, sarcasm, reduced speech, body language, facial expressions, and gestures must all be negotiated in the context of learning a new spoken language. Gestures, or the motions and movements Gestures can be used to enforce an idea but should become less exaggerated with time, as understanding grows. Where possible, normalized conversational gestures are optimal.
PACING
ELLs often require a longer “wait-time” to produce a response. After questioning, allow up to two minutes of unprompted thinking time. If a student is not yet ready, offer cooperative opportunities for production. Partner-Pair-Share, Numbered Heads, or Rally Table are great approaches; and sentence starters can be embedded into any of these strategies. Just be sure that the student who was originally asked does, ultimately, have the opportunity to share his or her response with the class.
APPROACH
Labeling, visuals, realia, manipulatives, graphic organizers, sentence frames and hands-on exploration are essential to the ELL classroom experience. Each is a language-building path toward content accessibility. Additionally, we can be especially mindful that our curriculum and class reading materials reflect the diverse nature of our classrooms. Where do our students recognize themselves in the school day? How are students invited to express themselves using the four language domains?
PROCESS
Students, including English learners, should have guided agency over their own learning. Work with students to set goals, create viable paths toward these aims, and to monitor their success along the way. Cooperative structures are an important part of this process, as they encourage language development, enhance positive classroom culture and put students in the drivers’ seats of their own learning. Yes, our ELLs CAN meaningfully participate in student-led instruction and Project-Based Learning (PBL). Learn to establish supports… and then get out of the way!
CONSIDERATIONS
Newcomer students may be working through trauma, shock or other stressors. Monitor external stimuli to help mitigate significant stress. Learn to recognize symptoms and know when to ask for help. Work to recognize, celebrate and practice Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) skills throughout the school day and school year. To build background on newcomer Trauma start HERE. For more tips on trauma-informed care for ELLs (and all students) take a peek at an RC article for Edutopia, found HERE.
INVITATION
You may be a child’s first teacher of their school career, their first teacher in America, or the first teacher to breakthrough. Smile. Show welcoming. Be an example of the possibility that exists for them.
Digital Game Play for Instruction: The Why of the Practice
I recently wrote an article for Edutopia outlining 5 Free Video Games That Support English Language Learners. In this article, we’ll lay some groundwork in terms of understanding the whys and hows of using serious games to drive meaningful student learning. Our guiding question: What makes gamification so appealing, and how can we apply this to our classrooms to increase student engagement and accelerate content understanding?
The Edutopia article explains: “The concept of gamifying learning has been part of practical instruction, in various forms, for years, and for good reason: Research shows that game-based learning has the capacity to motivate students, activate knowledge and enhance critical thinking capacities.” Additionally, we know that gameplay is a key facet of culturally responsive teaching and is an integral feature of modern ESL curricula. Serious games and simulation games, which invite players to actively solve for real and relevant problems, also expand the ways that learners see and interact with the world.
Trends in games-based learning continue to lean into technological integration- and data backs up its place in the 21st-century classroom. In fact, research indicates that education-focused video and virtual gaming can benefit all students, particularly low-performing students who demonstrate the greatest need.
Video games- including educationally driven programs- follow a predictable structure, resulting in relatively uniform user experience. If we look closely, we see that video game design takes many of its leads from brick-and-mortar classrooms. In fact, a user’s interaction with a gaming interface mirrors the school learning experience, where instructional best practices are in place.
Video games are largely successful at capturing users’ attention and driving players toward mastering the content of the game. In a similar way, it is possible to recognize key features of gaming architecture in our classrooms and to leverage these features to increase student interest and motivation and to drive authentic content learning.
Let’s take a closer look at those components:
· Play: Play is the cornerstone of video game design and appeal. Play itself has several requisites: choice, positive peer interchange, and the opportunity to explore, coach and learn in a safe, non-threatening arena. Schools also recognize the power of play, including the elements of healthy social interaction and cultivated trust, and we cater to it in a variety of ways.
· Central goal: A game is separated from simple play by one defining feature: the presence of a central goal. Well-designed video games direct users toward a clear and attractive end goal. Well-organized classrooms lead students toward specific, achievable end goals, usually through a series of identified mini-goals. We name these standards, student learning outcomes, or Content-Language Objectives (CLOs).
· Rules: Rules are the skeleton of a game. In a video game, rules-design follows the principle that rule followers will advance to the next stage of the game; and for those who misunderstand or abuse the game’s rules, the process will be delayed or ended. This pattern applies to most areas of life and is evidenced in the classroom setting. When expectations are clear, students understand what is expected of them and can respond appropriately.
· Feedback: The feedback loop is central to digital gameplay. The user voluntarily completes an action, which stimulates a system response (feedback). The user interprets the feedback and reacts accordingly. This process continues until the game ends or the user terminates the loop.
As educational practitioners, we are experts in feedback loops. The difference is that technological feedback is direct, instantaneous and wholly interactive. We know that prompt and meaningful feedback has positive implications for intrinsic motivation and accelerated learning. How can we grow in this capacity to benefit our students?
· Voluntary Participation: Virtual gaming is rooted in choice. When personal choice is introduced, productivity, accuracy and motivation increase. Where can we make room for more student choice in our classrooms? Interactive station rotations, student-led inquiry and project-based learning, for example, all promote voice and choice.
· Personalization: Video games are designed to read the user. They must determine the player’s initial level of expertise and projected wants and needs- and then adapt to fit the player. Well-designed games scaffold learning and progressively increase in complexity. This mimics optimal instructional protocol for all learners, including linguistically diverse students.
· Removed Fear of Failure: In game play, users are afforded an infinite number of opportunities to try again. Mistakes become synonymous with new prospects- and ultimately, failure becomes obsolete. The idea of “failing forward” is inherent to the gaming world. Where and how can we work toward removing fear of failure in our schools?
· Community Building: Virtual games lend themselves to collaboration and community. This is enhanced within the backdrop of joy, entertainment, belonging, teamwork… and fun. Positive relationship building is also central to the school organism. It forms the backbone of SEL, culturally responsive teaching, and trauma-informed practice.
· Assessment: Video games are also assessments: they recognize, evaluate and rank participation- and then adjust the experience accordingly. In this context, assessments are also malleable. They adapt to the player’s understanding and expertise and automatically push forward (or fall back to re-teach). Our best site-based assessments look this way, too!
· Debriefing: Debriefing is the process of thoughtful, purposeful reflection on one’s experience. Educational gameplay should include debriefing as a way to complete the circuit of understanding. In the classroom, this process can be guided and modeled and my included speech, writing or other expressive means.
Gaming is not intended as a replacement for quality instruction delivered by an experienced teacher. However, educationally purposeful video games can support students’ learning in a host of ways. And if we take the time to see it, we’ll find that tech-based gaming has more in common with traditional educational structures than we might realize- that the overlap, in fact, is significant.
Asylum 101 for Educators: Learning & Lesson Plan Resources Included!
Who is an asylum seeker?
To define asylum seeker, let’s back up and explore two other designations: immigrant and refugee. Immigrants, by technical definition, are individuals who leave the home country for another country- usually by choice and often in search of education, employment or better life opportunities.
Refugees are set apart from other immigrants by one critical feature. The flight of a refugee must be related to war or violence, and they must experience an earnest fear for their life as a result of ongoing persecution. This comes from the 1951 Geneva Convention, the outcome of which defines a refugee as one who fled his or her own country because of persecution, or a well-founded fear of persecution, based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Asylum seekers meet the criteria of a refugee but are already living in the host country or are seeking asylum at a port of entry. The term “port of entry” encompasses all land and sea borders to the United States.
Where do applicants for asylum to the U.S. originate from?
Individuals and families from all over the world seek safety and asylum in the United States. The “Big 3” countries for both asylum applications and approvals in the U.S. are China (22%), El Salvador (11%) and Guatemala (10%). (Department of Homeland Security)
However, demographics by state can vary widely. In Colorado, for instance, the most significant asylee populations include Venezuela, Syria and Russia. (Colorado Refugee Services Program)
How is asylum status granted?
The U.S. has two forms of approved asylum: affirmative and defensive.
Affirmative applicants are those who are already in the U.S. on an approved visa. These individuals may submit a request for asylum within the initial year of entry. As the first step in the consideration process, the applicant will meet with a USCIS asylum officer to determine whether or not he or she meets the criteria of a refugee. An application for asylum must be approved, denied or court-reviewed.
Asylum seekers who arrive at a U.S. port of entry without a lawful means of entry are considered defensive applicants. These individuals are apprehended as unauthorized migrants. Defensive applicants must initiate an asylum request within the first year. If refugee criteria are met and an asylum request is filed, the case is adjudicated in immigration court. (Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, 2018)
Affirmative applicants who are denied and remain in the U.S. as unauthorized individuals may apply for defensive consideration.
A USCIS issued I-94 is proof of asylum status.
What resources are available to potential asylum seekers?
Defensive filings are often expedited. Nonetheless, the asylum consideration process typically takes between six months and several years. (National Immigration Forum) Significant backlogs for immigration hearings and processing compound the delay. The National Immigration Forum reported that as of July 2018, “there were over 733,000 pending immigration cases and the average wait time for an immigration hearing was 721 days.”
Asylum seekers are not granted an attorney by the U.S. government. All efforts and costs related to legal assistance are the responsibility of the individual. However, some attorneys and organizations offer pro bono services to those seeking asylum.
An applicant’s ability to obtain legal representation does impact his or her chances for approval by as much as five times, according to the NIF. The organization notes that “in FY 2017, 90 percent of applicants without an attorney were denied, while almost half of those with representation were successful in receiving asylum.”
Potential asylum seekers are not eligible for refugee services and may not apply for a work permit while the asylum process is pending or if asylum is not granted.
How many individuals are granted asylum in the United States?
2017 is the most recent year for which data is available. In that year, 26,568 individuals were grants asylum to the United States, 60% of those under affirmative status and 40% under defensive status. (Migration Policy Institute, 2018)
The number of asylum cases has risen each year since 2015. However, the denial rate for the applicants has increased in tandem from 44.5% in 2015 to 61.8% in 2017. (National Immigration Forum, 2018)
How are asylum seekers impacted by the events of their plight?
Asylees, like other displaced persons, are likely to have experienced unhealthy, unsafe or otherwise traumatic life events. Trauma occurs when a person’s ability to manage stress becomes overwhelmed by the degree or toxicity of the stressor (or series of stressors).
Conditions and experiences upon or during the process of achieving asylum may further aggravate outcomes of trauma.
However, it should be noted that asylum seekers, in the same vein as other refugees, are highly capable of resilience and positive social integration.
How can I get involved and incorporate this knowledge into my teaching?
Check out these amazing resources for building awareness and engaging in the solution. These are student-friendly tools and lesson plans, so be sure to bring your learners into the discussion!
Nowhere Boy by Katherine March. Chapter-by-chapter educators’ guide by Kirsten Cappy and Louise El Yaafouri. https://katherinemarsh.com/educators/
World Refugee Day Toolkit: http://www.rcusa.org/blog
Lesson Plan: Refugees/Asylum- Immigration History https://immigrationhistory.org/lesson-plan/refugee-asylum/
Lesson Plan: Exploring Refugees and Asylum Seekers https://www.afsusa.org/educators/teachers-toolbox/lesson-plans/exploring-refugees-and-asylum-seekers/
UNHCR: Teaching About Refugees https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/teaching-about-refugees.html
ADL: Anti-bias education: Migrant Caravan' and the People Seeking Asylum https://www.adl.org/education/educator-resources/lesson-plans/migrant-caravan-and-the-people-seeking-asylum
Lesson Plans: Refugees and Asylum Seekers- The Advocates for Human Rights https://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/uploads/eon_lesson_6.pdf
Custom & Cultural Nuance in the Classroom Setting
Karen-Burmese family at International Night, Place Bridge Academy, Denver. May 2016. Photo: Louise El Yaafouri. The following is an excerpt from The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s Guide to Aid Transition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).
EXAMINING CUSTOM & CULTURAL NUANCES
Authentic cultural tolerance and understanding is a fundamental basis for success in the Newcomer classroom. A willingness to maintain awareness and open-mindedness in culturally divergent settings can promote positive exchange and individual growth. When we are able to engage with our students from bases of respect, tolerance, and attempted understanding, we also foster reciprocation of these same traits back onto ourselves, and also toward classroom peers. If, on the other hand, we develop habits of projecting fear, misinterpretation, and bias onto our pupils, then we have also contaminated the entire sanctity of the learning environment.
We know that the ways in which we view and interact with our students can tremendously influence students’ classroom and learning success. With regard to tolerance and cultural respect, every lesson begins with ourselves. Our behaviors will be modeled long before, and long after, our words have an opportunity to make an impression.
Realistically, however, and despite our best efforts, it can still be difficult, confusing, or unsettling to come into contact with cultural tendencies that are unfamiliar to us. For example, acceptable distances of physical proximity, vocal volume norms, pleasantry tactics and privacy stipulations can dramatically swing from one cultural demographic to another. It is impossible to notice and make sense of all of our students’ culturally divergent tendencies.
We will face many challenges in recognizing, interpreting, and accepting our students’ many cultural qualities. No one approach to living or learning necessarily trumps another. Each is simply different. Indeed, our Newcomer students may prove among the richest, most experienced cultural guides that we will know.
In the end, it is not a student’s sole responsibility to change to suit the teacher’s needs. Unquestionably, our Newcomers will be required to learn and adopt many westernized customs in order to successfully integrate into our culture. As educators, we can also allow ourselves some room for adjustment. These small personal transformations are reflected in the positive and tolerant ways that we choose to interact with students and plan for their optimal learning in each school day.
EYE CONTACT
One specific conundrum is the eye contact issue. In the Newcomer setting, it is very common to encounter students who stoutly refuse to look an adult in the eye when they are being spoken to. This behavior may be especially evident if a child is being pointed out or reprimanded. In the West, direct eye contact with an adult or elder is typically equated with respect and obedience. Therefore, a dismissive look signals defiance and disinterest. This is our truth.
However, direct eye contact between a child and an adult is considered atypical behavior in many of the world’s cultures. Throughout East and North Africa, for example, direct eye contact between a child and elder is considered a sign of intense disrespect on the part of the youth. Resettled persons from these regions will very likely instruct their own children to look down when speaking to anyone older or of greater perceived importance, as this is what is considered the honorable thing to do.
Aha! Our eye contact-avoiding students, whom we may have perceived as acting disrespectfully, have been demonstrating utmost respect all along. These individuals exhibit respect via their truths, and according to personal experiences and relative social norms. There you have it. The teacher is just not always right.
LOSING FACE
Other cultural nuances are also evidenced in the classroom. For instance, many East Asian and Arab students are noticeably consumed with the notion of losing face. That is, they strive to avoid even the slightest run-in with public humiliation, especially that which would bring shame to the greater family unit.
This phenomenon surrounding fear of failure typically prevents risk taking, volunteering, and sometimes even trying in the classroom. Educators who come from a background of outspoken Western idealism may experience frustration at recurrent student episodes of superfluous caution. We might expect or wish that our learners would simply take a chance; to speak out, speak up, and care just a little less about peer judgment and evaluation.
From a culturally mindful perspective, meanwhile, we see that for most Newcomers, family and community comprise the very heart of a meaningful life. To embarrass or shame the family name could result in shunning either of the individual by the family, or the family by the community. Both fates equate to social death. Excellence and recognition, on the other hand, can bring respect and glory to an entire family and community.
In terms of social cohesiveness and support in the post-resettlement con- text, there are certain advantages to the saving face mentality. This inherent code of honor serves as a binding agent for resettled ethnic populations -and it may also serve as a cohesive strand between culturally diverse ethnic populations.
In the classroom, students who had been taught to adhere to saving face principals are very frequently self-driven learners who diligently applied themselves to their studies in an extended effort to bring happiness and honor to the home. They are likely to hesitate in answering questions, unless they can be absolutely certain that they have the correct response, and they may strive to please the teacher in every possible way. We can guide these students toward classroom chance taking by providing a nurturing classroom environment and celebrating mistakes as opportunities for continued growth.
LEFT HAND AS ABOMINATION
In many non-westernized cultures, the use of the left hand is considered unclean and is strictly avoided in any social setting. Eating, passing objects, hand holding, patting, or greeting with the left hand may be considered taboo.
It is wise to be cognizant of this when presenting children or parents with pencils, paper, or treats with the left hand; the act may be received as inauspicious or as an outright abomination. Also, children who may be naturally left-handed go to great lengths to avoid using this hand for writing or other activities in the classroom, and quality of work may be impacted as a result.
ASKING FOR AID
Asking for help is not encouraged in most East Asian school settings. This may occur for several reasons. The first has to do with the concept of saving face, in which an individual may feel personal shame or greater family shame for not understanding. Second, asking questions often denotes individualism, which is rarely a prized value in Eastern cultures. Finally, in many countries, the teacher is considered the expert and authority in all matters relating to education, and therefore, it may be perceived as disrespectful to ask a teacher for clarification on a subject. As a potential result of heritage customs, the concept of asking for aid may require explicit modeling in the host setting.
WANDER-AND-EXPLORE TENDENCIES
Many cultures place great emphasis on the need for children to learn through exploration and experience. Even the very young are encouraged to experiment, play, and seek answers in a very tangible sense, often apart from direct adult supervision. In some communities, practical education is regarded with as much or more reverence than structured book learning. The tools, ingenuity, and skill sets that children gather during this adventurous time often enable future work and survival success, thus serving as an asset to the community as a whole.4
This is in direct conflict with traditional Western Sit-Up-Straight-And-Tall methodology. As a result, students who are more accustomed to wander- and-explore learning may have a very challenging time adjusting to certain classroom norms in the host setting. We’re talking about that child who seems entirely allergic to a desk chair. The one who stands as he or she writes, whose shoes have a habit of magically evading his or her actual feet, and whose desk is a nesting place for pen caps, twigs, puffballs, marbles, and origami triangles—that just might be your Wander-And-Explore student.
And it’s ok. These students are still learning, after all! Typically, these harmless classroom behaviors will dissipate with time. Again, they are not wrong; they are just different than what we have been trained to be used to. Best practices call for us to provide explicit learning opportunities for wander-and-explore learners that accentuate their problem-solving strengths, such as manipulative learning techniques. Meanwhile, we can promote positive behaviors that will lend to their future success in westernized schooling environments.
PERSONAL SPACE AND PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS
In many countries and cultures, personal space is not valued as a commodity. In these settings, spatial boundaries may be nonexistent. It will be very natural for students from these regions to position themselves extremely close to other individuals throughout the school day. Custom may encourage students to push right up to another student while standing in line, or think little of physical contact such as touching elbows or knees at a desk. Talking may occur at close range.
These behaviors are a routine part of life in many African and Middle Eastern countries. They are, in their essence, innocent reflections of human nature, in contexts where many people share a limited space. However, privacy considerations can become problematic in the classroom when someone with contrasting personal space values encounters them. Spatial consideration may require explicit teaching and modeling within the classroom.
ADHERENCE TO TIME
Time is not regarded with the same level of importance in all parts of the world. In the westernized sense, timeliness is considered a virtue, and adherence to time is the common norm. In many cultures, however, timeliness may be out-valued by social interaction and other obligations.
In most African countries and many regions of East Asia and Central and South America, for example, it is considered extremely rude to cut greetings or exchanges short in an effort to make an appointment deadline, or for any other reason. Thus, meetings and other professional or social engagements can run far behind schedule. Lateness, in most cases, is not considered rude or irresponsible. Loose adherence to time is merely a reflection of cultural values. Therefore, punctual behavior may need to be overtly encouraged in the Western setting.
VOLUME AND TONE
Normative values for conversational volume can vary drastically between cultures. Vocal registers that may be customary to many Middle Eastern or African cultures may feel harsh or alarming, at least according to Western expectations. In many regions, verbal exchange is an animated and lively process, and volume considerations may not be as esteemed as they are in the host setting. Meanwhile, Latin American or East Asian volume norms may be seem diminutive in contrast to host values, as soft speech and inwardness are considered virtuous character traits. In the classroom context, we need to work with our learners in establishing volume norms that are conducive to social and learning success.
UNIFORMITY
Individualism is a trend that is largely exclusive to Western cultures. Most other countries celebrate collectivism, which encourages viewing the self as inherently and wholly linked to surrounding bands of community, beginning with the family. This whole-group perspective serves to motivate decision making that will positively influence not only the self, but also the entire social dynamic.
Learners who are accustomed to uniformity value systems may find little appeal in standing out in the classroom setting. They may have limited desire to be the best, or to ask for help or clarification. Blending into the overall group dynamic is seen as a definitive honor and benefit to the family and cultural group.
We can guide our students and families to enjoy some of the benefits that individualism can provide in the new environment. Ultimately, we hope for a balance. Students will need to exercise some elements of independence in order to fully thrive in the twenty-first-century learning environment; and they may also be compelled to retain certain heritage values. We can do our best as educators by honoring both avenues, as well as all the gray areas in between!
TEACHER AS EXPERT
In most non-Western cultures, educators are highly regarded as essential pillars of the community. The teacher, in these societies, is considered a sole authority in terms of all learners’ academic welfare. Thus, education is considered the singular responsibility of the teacher. As a matter of trust and respect, parents are socially deterred from interfering with this process. Newcomer parents who are accustomed to this scenario will be highly unlikely to question the role or actions of a teacher, as such infringements would be considered offensive and disrespectful.
Complications occur when this behavior, as viewed in the West, may resemble a “lack” of parental involvement or disinterest in a child’s learning. We may become frustrated or affronted. However, the families themselves probably believe they are doing the right thing. Indeed, the concept of parent involvement in education is almost exclusively a North American one.
In effort to counter this, and other misconceptions, we must share in the responsibility of opening healthy lines of communication between the home and the school. In doing so, we make room for understanding, cooperation, and collaboration. When we, as host educators, are better informed, we’re less likely to react out of confusion or insult. Instead, we might be more inclined to respond with compassion, understanding, and careful planning.
By cultivating our own mindfulness of the cultural distinctions that exist in our classrooms and schools, we can enjoy more meaningful and impacting relationships with our students and their families. As a holistic outcome of cultural tolerance, trust can be established. From a place of trust, we can wholly access our students’ learning capabilities. This is the place where magic happens.
Sources:
Virtue, David C. (2009). Serving the Needs of Immigrant and Refugee Adolescents. Principal, VA. Vol. 89, No. 1, 64–65 S/O
Moore, Dennis (2004). Conceptual Policy Issues. In R. Hamilton & D. Moore (Eds.), Educational Interventions for Refugee Children (p. 93). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Loewen, Shawn (2004). Second Language Concerns for Refugee Children. In R. Hamilton & D. Moore (Eds.), Educational Interventions for Refugee Children (pp. 35–52). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Charny, Joel (2008). World Refugee Day: Where are the World’s Hidden Refugees? Refugees International. Located at www.refugeesinternational.org/blog/world- refugee-day-where-are-the-worlds-hidden-refugees. Retrieved Feb. 2014.
Meyer, Erin (2014). The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Bound- aries of Global Business. PublicAffairs Publishing.
Morrison, Terry & Wayne A. Conaway (2006). Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands, Adams Media.
Lustig, Myron W. & Jolene Koester (2009). International Competence: Interpersonal Communication Across Cultures (6th Edition). Pearson Publishing.
Lewis, Richard D. (2005). When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures (3rd Edition). Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Storti, Craig (2007). The Art of Crossing Cultures (2nd Edition). International Press.
Refugee 101, Part 2: Who is a Refugee?
Image is part of a learning video created by Louise El Yaafouri for Colorado Refugee Connect. View the full video and get involved at corefugeeconnect.org.
Currently, there are more than 65 million displaced persons in the world. Of those, nearly 26 million are classified as refugees. More than half of the world’s refugees are children.
Less than half of one percent of the world’s refugees will ever be resettled to a third party country, such as the U.S. A slight handful of that exceptional one percent will make their way into our schools and classrooms. This means that our newcomer students truly are one in a million- and in the broader context of displaced persons, closer to one in a billion.
As educators, we may be presented with the unique opportunity- and awesome responsibility- to serve students from refugee backgrounds. In this five-part series, we’ll explore the refugee experience, outline pre and post-resettlement processes, and celebrate resettled refugees as assets to our communities.
WHO IS A REFFUGEE?
Migration is a central theme of the human story. Many, including including immigrants and migrants (by technical definition), relocate by choice- usually in search of new opportunities or improved ways of life.
Others are forced to relocate as a means of survival. Displaced individuals are pushed from their homes or communities involuntarily and under high duress- often leaving behind possessions, loved ones and personal histories. Catalysts for displacement include war, famine, natural disaster or economic instability.
Refugees are set apart from other displaced populations by one critical feature. The flight of a refugee must be related to war or violence, and they must experience an earnest fear for their life as a result of ongoing persecution.
This comes from the 1951 Geneva Convention, the outcome of which defines a refugee as one who fled his or her own country because of persecution, or a well-founded fear of persecution, based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Asylum seekers meet the criteria of a refugee but are already living in the host country or are seeking asylum at a port of entry.
Image is part of a learning video created by Louise El Yaafouri for Colorado Refugee Connect. View the full video and get involved at corefugeeconnect.org.
Each story of the refugee experience is unique. Some travel through multiple countries in search of asylum. In the process of escape, many must tolerate uncertainty or entrust their lives to smugglers. Some endure periods without food, water or shelter. Many flee without important documentation. Some are forced to leave loved ones behind.
The majority of refugees relocate to urban camps, where groups of affected individuals band together within established cities. Urban camps are generally makeshift and may evolve to have their own economies. Some resettle in formal refugees camps, typically organized and operated by the UNHCR. These are the image of refuge camps that most Westerners are familiar with, usually having standardized tent structures and organizational staff.
From The Newcomer Student:
It is difficult to capture the essence and extent of what a refugee camp actually is. Refugee settlements are not typically self-supporting, and rely extensively on external aid for nearly all matters of finance, food, health, and viability. They are notoriously unglamorous, routinely undersupplied, and statistically dangerous. The UN High Commission for Refugees offers that, “Refugee camp is a term used to describe human settlements which vary greatly in size and character. In general, refugee camps are enclosed areas, restricted to refugees and those assisting them, where protection and assistance is provided until it is safe for the refugees to return to their home or to be resettled elsewhere.”
On average, a refugee lives in a camp setting for 17 years. It is common for refugees from one country to be born in a refugee camp in another country (for example, a Bhutanese student may identify as Nepali, a Burmese as Thai, or a Congolese as Tanzanian.) On average, a refugee is away from the heritage country for 20 years before a return can be realized.
Prior to upheaval, most refugees did not desire to leave their home countries. In fact, this process can be very traumatic. In her poem “Home” Somali poet Warsan Shire writes, “No one leaves their home unless their home is the mouth of a shark.”
SOURCES:
American Immigration Council (2013). Located at americanimmgrationcouncil.org. Retrieved Oct. 2012.
Russell, Sharon Stanton (2002). Refugees: Risks and Challenges Worldwide. Migration Policy Institute, 1946–4037.
Hamilton, Richards & Moore, Dennis (2004). Education of Refugee Children: Documenting and Implementing Change. In Educational Interventions for Refugee Children, eds Richard Hamilton & Dennis Moore, London UK: RoutledgeFalmer, Chapter 8.
McBrien,J.Lynn(2003).A Second Chance for Refugee Students. Educational Leadership, Vol. 61, No. 2, 76–9 O. Educational Needs and Barriers for Refugee Students in the United States: A Review of Literature. Review of Educational Research Vol. 75, No. 3, 329–64.
United Nations, High Commissioner for Refugees (2012). United Nations Communications and Public Information Service, Geneva, Switzerland. Located at unhcr.org. Retrieved Aug. 2015.
Patrick, Erin (2004). The U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. Migration Policy Institute, Washington, D.C. Located at migrationpolicy.org/article/us-refugee- resettlement-program. Retrieved Aug. 2015.
United Nations Convention related to the Status of Refugees (1951). UN Article 1. Located at unhcr.org. Retrieved June 2011.
International Refugee Committee (2015). SOAR, New York. Located at rescue. org. Retrieved Aug. 2015.
Van Hahn, Nguyen (2002). Annual Report to Congress- Executive Summary. Office of Refugee Resettlement. Located at acf.hhs.gov. Retrieved Dec. 2010.
Edwards, James R. Jr. (2012). Religious Agencies and Refugee Resettlement. Center for Immigration Studies. Memorandum, March 2012.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2012). United Nations Communications and Public Information Service, Geneva, Switzerland. Located at unhcr.org. Retrieved Aug. 2015.
U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants (USCRI) (2015). Arlington, Va., refugees.org. Retrieved Aug. 2015.
U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants (USCRI) (2015). Arlington, Va., refugees.org. Retrieved Aug. 2015.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) (2013). Path to Citizenship. Located at uscis.gov. Retrieved Aug. 2015.
U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants (USCRI) (2015). Arlington, Va. Located at refugees.org. Retrieved Aug. 2015.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) (2013). Path to Citizenship. Located at uscis.gov. Retrieved Aug. 2014.
Refugee 101, Part 1: An Introduction
The only remaining photo of Eh Doh Htoo and his family in the Thai refugee camp for Karen Burmese. He shared this photo with our class as part of a “Heritage Book” project in 2009. He graduated high school last year.
The following is an excerpt from The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s Guide to Aid Transition by Louise El Yaafouri (Kreuzer), available HERE.
An Introduction to the Refugee 101 Series
Newcomer students are often defined by a long and complicated series of statistics: data scores, influx patterns, poverty analyses, and of course, school performance grades. Certain figures are certainly useful and valid. But they lead us apart from the relatable, tangible person. The relatable, tangible student; the learner we show up for. This leads us to the who.
In elementary talk, human seeking refuge is the main idea of the refugee story. Refugees are individuals with palpable faces and names who are colored by real life stories, experiences, families, and successes. Refugees and immigrants, not apart from our host-nation selves, are people—parents, children, adventurers, workers, dreamers, teachers, students, feelers, believers, doers, and learners.
Again, like us, refugee individuals and families carry with them other things: tribulations, stressors, and personal legacies. Some family fabrics are cohesive; others show wear. Some individuals appear well adjusted and decodable, while others are stalemated in secrets, burdens, and internalized fears.
These pieces, combined, highlight one simple, beautiful, extraordinary truth. We are all human. Each of us is susceptible, and yet, each of us is a channel for resiliency. We are all magnificent and full of promise, just as we are tarnished and unsteady. Each of us owns an access point to greatness. More than this, we all possess the inherent ability to help and guide one another through processes of personal and contextual transformation.
Let’s think this through. Are we, as westernized Americans in our own subjective neighborhoods, so exempt from characteristics of trial, loss, joy, confusion, relocation, or overcoming? Of course not! Sure, some of our stories register relatively low on the scale of global severity. Nevertheless, our personal tribulations and successes are meaningful to us, within the context and perimeters of life as we are familiar with it. No story is insignificant.
Greatness belongs to each of us.
"Home": Acknowledging the Complex Transitions of Refugee Newcomers
Drawing by former student Pah Leh Paw (age 9), depicting the Thai refugee camp where she grew up, after her family fled from the Karen cultural region of Myanmar Burma.
“I AM FROM . . .”
In my first year of teaching in the Newcomer sector, I remember feeling flabbergasted by one very real truth: our little four-walled classroom housed the world inside its perimeter. Out of the twenty-five students that first year, fourteen countries were represented in our classroom, with nineteen first languages among them. I still cherish this memory, and perhaps more so now that I’ve also acquired some understanding of the unique countries, customs, and languages that we have in our care.
I arrived as head of the classroom that year, the first year that our refugee-magnate school was set in motion, highly unprepared. I was fresh, sure, and knowledgeable in the field of education, too. I was also remarkably naïve. Armed with personal monologues of out-of-country experiences, I thought I was worldly, exposed, and ready. Then, I got schooled by a class of eight-year-olds.
When, for example, students stated, “I am from Burma,” I assumed, well, Burma. As in, one Burma, the one I located on Google Maps (just to refresh my memory . . . of course). As in, one culture, one language, one struggle, one united journey to our classroom.
That episode of simplistic thinking was short-lived. Within days, I figured out that several of my Burmese students couldn’t actually communicate orally with each other. Moreover, this group of students did not always appear outwardly friendly toward one another, despite their apparent cultural similarities. In fact, I was noticing intense tensions and aggressions between like-cultured groups, even while cross-cultural communications remained friendly and outgoing.
At one point early in the year, Snay Doh came to see me in private. He asked to move his seat away from his Thai peer, Thaw Eh Htoo. He wished to sit at a separate desk, between Valentin from Burundi, and Khaled from Yemen. “I don’t mind thinking about this, Snay Doh,” I replied, “but I hope that you can explain to me why this is a good idea. Moving your seat isn’t going to make a bigger problem go away. What is it that seems to be keeping you and Thaw from getting along?”
Snay Doh, with his limited English vocabulary, broke down the entire dilemma, with Crayola illustrations and all. In the end, I learned that Snay Doh’s parents were Burma-Burmese, and that he was born in the refugee camps in Thailand. Thaw Eh Htoo was also born in a Thai refugee camp. However, his parents were Karen Burmese. Not only were these two families from geographically, linguistically, and culturally separate parts of Burma; they were also at war with one another.
With a little more research, I came to realize that four rivers physically separate the small nation of Burma into five distinct geographical regions. Within these regions, a multitude of individual tribes maintain separate and exclusive lifestyles and cultures. Seven of these tribes demand high social and political prominence. These clans have an epic history of interaction, often involving warfare on every level and for every reason: territory, religion, water, trade, and government.
Members from five of these tribes held places on that first year roster. So, no; that original seating arrangement with four of those Burmese students, of four separate religions, customs and dialects at the same table didn’t work out so well. (Enter school-wide positive behavior system roll-out.)
Similar dichotomies are repeated each year in our schools and classrooms, and are reflected in the lives of our students from all over the world: Congo, Iran, Somalia, and Libya, and many others. The truth is that people who originate from one country are not necessarily homogeneous, or for that matter, oozing with camaraderie with one another. Fundamental views and values may vary dramatically, even to the point of enmity. For me, this lesson was critical. Indeed, we are never done learning.
AS THE CROW FLIES
Interestingly, our students’ documented countries of origination are rarely aligned with actual ancestral roots. This occurs primarily because many of our students are transported to (or even born in refugee camps) proximal to the heritage region.
For example, most Nepali refugees are Bhutanese. Many Thai students are Burmese. Our Kenyan students might be exclusively Congolese, Somalian, Rwandan, or Ethiopian. A Lebanese student’s first home may have been Syria, Palestine or Afghanistan.
Sometimes a spade is a spade; Congo really does mean Congo, and there is no need to complicate things further. But often, it doesn’t hurt to engage in a little sleuthing. The results can be astonishing. Frequently, Newcomers will have lived in a multitude of nations, even leading up to the country of origin that appears on resettlement documentation. This information can be helpful, in that it allows for additional insights into students’ probable cultural and learning backgrounds. It might also sway us away from topical assumptions and approaches to our craft. Cultural geography 101, via the wide-eyed testimonies of our learners.
The list below indicates possible refugee origination locales. The perimeter countries represent heavily documented home nations. The adjacent regions are plausible induction zones. Often, grouped nations may be interchanged as first, second, or third origination countries. Of course, this resource equates to a rough-sketch approximation guide. The only true authorities on our students’ pre-resettlement paths are our students and families themselves.
POTENTIAL REFUGEE ORIGINATION LOCALES
Nepal: Bhutan, Tibet
India: Iran, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and China
Kenya: Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Sudan, and Ethiopia
Ghana: Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Togo, Benin, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal
Egypt: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Djibouti, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Yemen, Congo, and Lebanon
Libya: Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan, Senegal, Egypt, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Yemen, Djibouti, and Algeria
Thailand, Malaysia: Myanmar Burma, Karen Burma, Chin Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and China
Bangladesh: Rohingya Burma, Urdu Pakistan, Iran, Philippines, and Vietnam Jordan: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Armenia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Afghanistan
Turkey: Russia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan
Brazil: Venezuela, Honduras, Paraguay, Ecuador, Columbia, and Costa Rica
Mexico: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Columbia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Honduras, and Chili.
ELLs & the Silent Period
The following is an excerpt from The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s Guide to Aid Tranisition (Roman & Littlefield International, 2016). Interesting in exploring the full book? Find it on Amazon, Roman & Littlefield, or your favorite retailer.
The Silent Period & Obstructed Speech
The effects of a child’s emotional and psychiatric distress are routinely fleshed out in the Newcomer classroom. Often, the first of these symptoms are speech-related. In many cases, newly resettled students endure a period of marked silence. Silence is usually ascribed to the process of emotional transitioning. During the silent phase, which last for variant lengths of time, an individual will not express thoughts in the host language, either out of reluctance or inability.[1] Those who experience this phenomenon are sometimes referred to as “shell shocked”.[1] [1] The silent phase can last a period of days, weeks, or months.
In addition to silence, exposure to traumatic episodes at any period in a child’s life can trigger recurring nightmares and cognitive delays, as well as speech “freezes” and impediments. Such blocks include stuttering. Newcomer students who exhibit impeded speech should also be evaluated for traumatic stress.
Both silence and stuttering have a need to be addressed in the classroom. To begin, students should not be expected or mandated to produce oral language before they are ready. It is also wise to avoid situations that might embarrass new language learners, including publicly calling on them to speak before they are ready. We can be careful to offer caring encouragement and guidance. Also, we are responsible to practice patient wait time for processing speakers. In doing so, we model this behavior for other students.
Specific classroom accommodations must be in place to support language learners, and particularly non-verbal ELLs. First, to achieve this, a healthy and nurturing learning environment is critical. Small group engagement, tactile activities and positive feedback may encourage speech attempts and decrease overall anxiety. Alternative-expression tasks, such as drawing-and-labeling, script singing, or charade acting can provide additional opportunities to demonstrate knowledge in a language-centric environment.
Of course, kindness and caring are often the most influential antidotes to stress-stemmed silence. In the context of non-verbal ELLs, relationship and safety are everything. Simply, security induces speech.
Dramatic Play & Language Learning
from The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s Guide to Aid Transition, Louise Kreuzer-El Yaafouri, Roman & Littlefield International Press, 2016.
Dramatic play is a natural and inherent piece of healthy child development, fostering both language and intellectual capabilities. Dramatics are pertinent to the Newcomer classroom in that they allow for expressed emotion and understanding, even with limited use of the host language. Learners who have not yet become comfortable in the new language framework have an opportunity to discover a “voice” through acting-out processes. These types of constructive experiences can be freeing for the student, revealing for the educator, and base building for the learning community. Beyond all of this, drama is just plain, old-fashioned fun!
One outcome of dramatic play is emotional exploration. Emotional exploration that occurs within a sheltered environment can provide many benefits, especially working with resettled refugee populations, where grief and traumatic exposure are routinely elevated. In positive, carefully crafted settings, dramatic learning structures can provide safe and healthy platforms for combined emotional and vocabulary growth. Meanwhile, theatrics function as a valid comprehension assessment that can be exclusive of the language piece.
For example, guided role-play, in which students silently act out various emotions, can satisfy the aim of associating specific facial features and body language with a given circumstance. In a literary setting, learners may be asked to show a character’s facial expressions (link: feelings); or to mime or act out character traits, actions, or whole scenes. As it is said, the best way to know something is to be it. Here are a few fun starters!
1. Create A Human Machine
Begin with one or two connected children creating a simple, repetitive sound. Children contribute to the machine by entering the work space one at a time, connecting to another part of the machine by some body part, and adding a new beep, honk, bend, squat, jump or squish. After: Discuss questions, insights, new vocabulary and celebrated demonstrations of creativity.
2. “Two Noses”
Invite students to circumambulate the room. Facilitator calls out a) a number and b) a body part. Learners respond to the prompt by aligning themselves with the appropriate number of people, touching at the corresponding body part. For example, three elbows would play out with three students connected to each other in some way by their elbows. Encourage children to be creative in their connective choices and formations. This process continues: 4 knees, 6 thumbs, 2 backs, or 5 shins. This is a fun and creative means of team building; it also functions as a valuable opportunity for vocabulary acquisition.
3. Still Pictures/Tableaus
Working in small groups, students create frozen snap shots of a scene from a text. Tableaus can capture setting, character thought or emotion, sequence of events. This is terrific for group work, and also as a means of evaluating individual understanding and participation.
4. Act It Out
Read and discuss a text with students (The Hungry Caterpillar, for example), and then ask them play out the story alongside a narration. This is an entertaining process for all involved! More than this, dramatic role play is engaging and meaningful for the students, and it meanwhile offers educators a valid formative assessment of learner comprehension. Other ideas: plant life cycle, character reaction, imaginative journey (to another planet, say), migration trails, bullying responses, historical enactments, or the life of a drop of water. This is also a great activity for acting out dialogue or the sequence of events in a story or text.
5. True Theatrics
Simple plays at early reading levels are fantastic for developing and practicing reading fluency. Mask making can incorporate a host of various cultural and country traditions. Puppetry allows for student creativity, reading fluency, imaginative skills, and the ability to act without fully revealing or exposing themselves. Set the stage!
6. Human Knot
Students form a close circle, hands open and facing toward the center of the circle. Each participant reaches for two hands. The hands should not belong to the same person, or be joined to an immediate neighbor. Slowly, and with some coaching, students try to unravel their human knot without disconnecting their hands. This process stimulates teamwork, problem-solving skills and creativity.
7. Treasure Chest
Students sit in a circle. One student is blindfolded and stands inside the circle. An object (scarf, piece of paper, stuffed animal) is placed somewhere inside the circle. Taking turns, participants will guide the blindfolded learner to the treasure chest, practicing the usage of descriptive and clear directions. (Take three baby steps forward, then turn right…) Exchange roles. This process enables students to give and follow prompts, practice directional cue words and creatively problem solve toward a solution.
8. One Word Story
Sitting in a circle, the first person offers a single word to begin a story. The next person contributes the second word of the story, and so on. The story may shift and change unexpectedly, but should ultimately find closing. This exercise is great for sense-making, sequencing, and vocabulary building; meanwhile, it is a fun team-building activity. Certain parameters may be set in advance (theme, topic, unit vocabulary). Recorded sessions are excellent opportunities for practicing recorded dictation and/or recall, story continuation, and listening station options, among others.
9. What Are You Doing?
Divide students in half; one group will be an audience. The acting group of students forms two straight lines vertically facing the audience. One of the two students in front begins a verb motion (for example, eating lunch). The other student asks, What Are You Doing? The first student replies with a new verb. I’m brushing my teeth.
The second student immediately begins acting out this verb, while the first student goes to the back of his or her line. The next student in line steps up and asks, “What are you doing?” The active student responds with a new verb, I’m driving my car, and returns to the back of the line. The process continues until all players have had a turn. Actors and audience reverse.
This is a fantastic vocabulary building game! For ELLs- if a student can create an action, but is without the English word for it, the audience may kindly assist! A high five to the audience can signal, “Help me out, here!” Both sides love this!
10. Miming
Give a specific direction. Model miming exact directive. For example, Sharpen your pencil. Open your book. Think. Have an idea. Feel the window and look out. Invite students to join. Continue, without modeling. This is a great exercise to check for understanding without language restriction. Miming is also effective for story lines and plot directives.
11. Mock Interviews
Author study? Character study? New science material? Covering world topics or key figures in history? Perfect for an interview! Students can conduct this activity in pairs, or as a larger group interviewing a panel of experts. Many learners, especially ELLs, may need specific insight and modeling regarding the interviewer/interviewee relationship. Graphic organizers specific to the topic may also be very useful for recording responses.
12. Scene Improvisations
Students divide into small teams. Each team selects an index card with a scenario or location (at the grocery store; on the bus; at the pool; at a birthday party; at the zoo; learning to ride a bike; losing a tooth). Teams act out the scenario or a short bit that would reveal the location, without actually saying the actual name of the scenario/locale aloud. Observing teams will attempt to guess the index card cue correctly.
13. Emotion Party
Have students pretend they are going to a fancy party. One student, acting as the host, will begin in the stage space alone, waiting for guests to arrive. Another student will knock on the door, and be let in by the host. The guest, without using words, will show an emotion. (Silent emotions may work best in the classroom setting). The host, upon understanding the new emotion, will immediately assume the same energy.
A new guest will arrive, with a new emotion. Everyone at the party will demonstrate this new emotion, and so on, until all guests have arrived. Once everyone has had a turn to enter, each will leave in the order they arrived, with the emotion they came with.
This is a wonderful chance to explore emotions.Beginning learners will demonstrate simple facial expressions, and will match them with baseline vocabulary- happy, sad, mad, or tired.More advanced students will be able to apply other body language and may also be able to reach beyond basic word use, exploring higher level synonyms and altogether new ranges of emotion.
Viewing Heritage Language from an Asset-Based Lens
The following is an excerpt from The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s guide to Aid Transition by Louise Kreuzer-El Yaafouri (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), available HERE or HERE.
ORAL LANGUAGE: THE VOICE OF BELONGING
Language shapes how we think, and the influx of recent immigrants from hundreds of linguistic backgrounds presents a unique challenge to American schools. (1)
Oral language is very often the centerpiece of cultural cohesiveness, as it makes communication possible. Communication, meanwhile, is the foundation of human interconnectedness. Beyond allowing for the rituals of communal exchange, oral language is the primary platform upon which creative expression and universal sense making are constructed. It tells the story of the beginning, the end, and everything in between. It relates the family tree, defines social norms, solidifies romance, and generates war. Our world is made up of words.
All cultures demonstrate a high degree of oral reliance.(2) In certain regions, the communicative aspects of a culture permeate and sustain every grain of social function. In fact, most non-Western languages are rooted heavily in oral tradition. Many cultures are far more reliant upon verbal output and body language than printed text as a means of communicative exchange. Many of our new-to-English students come from these rich oral-centric backgrounds.
In much of Africa, for example, it is common for an individual to demonstrate agility in multiple local and national tongues, even when literacy abilities are restricted. In communities where legal contracts can be accomplished with a verbal handshake, print concepts may be extraneous to successful daily living. Of course, we understand that literacy is nonnegotiable for our students. Still, it may be helpful to understand the utter potency and significance of oral language in the Newcomer setting.
FINDING BALANCE: SUPPORTING HOST-LANGUAGE GROWTH & HERITAGE LANGUAGE PRESERVATION
The ultimate goal of the Newcomer framework is to facilitate English language learning at an accelerated rate, and to prepare students for continued mainstream scholastic and post-school successes. As previously mentioned, one of the best courses of action that we can take in enhancing host language development is to outspokenly value and actively encourage heritage language preservation. While this may seem counterintuitive, research continues to illuminate the benefits of this practice.(3)
The most significant reasons for heritage language preservation have to do with maintaining a coherent self-identity.(4) Moreover, native language acts as a tie that unites families and ethnic communities. When this tie is severed, a sense of belonging is compromised.
A majority of ELLs who are successful in maintaining heritage and host languages also perform better academically than ELLs who are restricted to host language learning at the expense of heritage language.(5) This trend has been documented in standardized testing, as well as in ACTs and SATs. Bilingualism impacts the brain in profound ways, enhancing cognitive function and long-term memory (including the proven delay of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease).(6)
Dual-language skills also enrich problem-solving abilities, promote flexibility and multitasking abilities, and provide for future opportunities with regard to college learning and beyond.(7)
Meanwhile, valuing heritage languages in the classroom encourages tolerance, global awareness, and belonging. Maintaining the host language can also expedite host language acquisition.(8,9) Shawn Loewen writes: “It is important for second language children to feel that their first language and culture are valued and respected. It is particularly important for refugee children . . . to use their first language with other children, their teachers, and at home.”(10)
In the classroom context, we can enable heritage language preservation by allowing our students periods of time where they are encouraged to communicate with linguistically similar students, where applicable, for a short period, and repeating out thoughts in English. We can provide texts representing a variety of cultures and/or languages (see chapter 8 for a multicultural reading list), and we can relay to parents, through a translator when necessary, the importance of maintaining heritage language skills in the home. Through and because of first language fluency, second (or third) language efficacy is more likely to occur.
Teaching Resiliency: A Tool Kit
Resilience is the ability to negotiate and recover from adversity. Humans experience all kinds of unique life experiences that demand an element of resiliency in order to move forward. We may endure physical illness, family dysfunction, abuse, transition, migration, loss or defeat.
We are also hard-wired with tools to overcome these events. We add to this tool box of healthy coping mechanisms as we move through life. We experience significant events that require us to manage defeat and rise again, and we also observe resilient-oriented behaviors of others who pass through struggle.
Sometimes, our ability to overcome adversity becomes compromised- perhaps our systems have become overwhelmed by challenge or we have not had access to healthy examples of resilience (or we have noted plenty of examples of unhealthy coping behaviors). Because resiliency is largely learned, students can benefit from lessons that explicitly teach and allow for practice of resilience-oriented behaviors.
In speaking to a school-based approach to resilience, I find it helpful to examine the concept from four lenses: foundation, regulation, incorporation and education.
Foundation
Foundation, in the context of achieving resilience, relates to the meeting of basic needs. Access to essential goods and services such as healthy food, clean water, clothing, transportation and medical care are considered foundational to resilience. Other features of resilient children include a sense of safety and “access to open spaces and free play”, which enriches multi-faceted age-appropriate development (1). Discrimination plays a role in determining a baseline for resiliency, too. As incidences of prejudice, discrimination and bullying are decreased, resilience is encouraged.
Regulation
Resilient individuals are capable of self-regulation. That is, they have developed healthy ways to negotiate and recover from unexpected or undesirable life events. (4) Healthy regulation mechanisms include self-soothing, creative problem solving, acknowledging and keeping boundaries, practicing bravery, calculated risk-taking, asking for help, flexibility and exercising a sense of humor when things don’t go as planned.
Incorporation
A sense of belonging, or “feeling valued and respected within a community”, is critical to resilience. (3) (4) Children, in particular, need to be able to identify specific people and places that make them feel welcomed and protected. Positive recognition and inclusion are critical tenants of belonging. (3) Positive relationships matter, and a diversified portfolio of relationships is ideal: family members, school friendships, non-school friendships, teachers and mentors. (1) Research indicates a a robust support community- and a deep sense of belonging within that community- are strong indicators for resilience. (2)
Education
Resilience can impact student learning; and learning can influence resiliency. Those who have their basic needs met and belong to the learning community- are more receptive to receiving and storing new information. Similarly, students may gain confidence through learning and sharing existing strengths, which promotes resilience. (4) Many indicators for resilience are embedded throughout the school day: organization, relationship building, access to play, opportunities to share expertise, and practicing commitment and follow-through.
From each of these four lenses, let’s explore some ways that we can actively approach resiliency and engage students in resilience-oriented behaviors at school.
FOUNDATION
Students cannot learn when they do not feel safe. Similarly, they will struggle to process new information after a poor night’s sleep or missed breakfast. Those who are facing social challenges, such as discrimination or bullying, may find it impossible to concentrate on the learning at hand. So, before we address the curriculum, we must address the learner. How are our students showing up for each learning day? How can we encourage those students who come to school in survival brain move toward learning brain… and stay there?
One of my favorite activities is the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, or DBT House. You can visit the activity description and view students samples HERE. The strategy is also available in the book, The Newcomer Fieldbook (Louise El Yaafouri), available HERE.
The DBT House exercise allows a glimpse into students’ lives, so that we re better able to meet them where they are. To foster resiliency, I like to follow the DBT House with this “Being Safe” lesson from Resilient Tutor Group: View it HERE.
PROMOTING ACCESS TO BASIC NEEDS AT SCHOOL
· 7 C’s of Resilience VIDEO
ANTI-BULLYING AND BULLYING PREVENTION
Non-academic foundations for learning:
· K. Brooke Stafford-Brizard @ EdWeek
REGULATION
Self-regulation leads to resiliency. Most self-regulation behaviors are learned. With this in mind, it makes sense to incorporate and model effective regulatory strategies throughout the school day. Chances are, we do this already. We may ask a student to count to 10 slowly before reacting; to self-evaluate and record distress levels; to identify “safe” spaces in the school or to diffuse disagreements with a Peace Circle.
Here are a few of my favorite techniques to use with learners of all ages.
Check out these other worthwhile resources, too!
· American Psychological Association
INCORPORATION
There are many ways to encourage students to grow in their sense of belonging at school. A great way to begin is by deliberately focusing on simple cues of belonging, such as making eye contact and referring to each child by his or her preferred (and correctly pronounced!) name. The following lessons and tools provide an entry point to promoting healthy incorporation in a school setting.
· MindSet Kit LESSONS
· MindSet Kit INTERACTIVE
EDUCATION
How can we draw from students’ existing resilience? How do we make room for bolstering new strands of resiliency in our already congested school day? We can begin by choosing resilience-building strategies that can be easily incorporated into a lesson and into the daily functioning of a classroom. Examples include:
· creating and adhering to routines (as much as possible!);
· opportunities to practice responsible choice-making (hey-hey, flexible seating!);
· brain breaks that engage students in physical exercise and creative play (GoNoodle is the bees knees!);
· learning games that encourage memory and impulse control;
· encouragement to practice safe risk-taking;
· and modeling of resilient behaviors, such as reframing disappointment.
As these tools and expectations become consistently embedded throughout students’ school experiences, they become part of the culture of the school. Ready to get started? Check out these recommended launch-points:
OVERALL TOOLBOX:
EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR ACKNOWLEDGING FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE
· North Carolina Early Learning Network
EXECTUTIVE FUNCTIONING STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS:
· Career and Life Skills Lessons Channel VIDEO
LESSON PLANS & IDEAS FOR RESILIENCY:
Sources:
1. Pearson, Umayahara and Ndijuye. Play and Resilience: SUPPORTING CHILDHOOD RESILIENCE THROUGH PLAY A facilitation guide for early childhood practitioners
2. Sarah V. Marsden, Resilience and Belonging https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-55019-4_4
3. Taylor & Hart. The Resilient Classroom A Resource Pack for Tutor Groups and Pastoral School Staff, Published by BOND and YoungMinds.
4. Nowicki, Anna. 2008 Self-efficacy, sense of belonging and social support as predictors of resilience in adolescents Anna Nowicki Edith Cowan University
9 Cross-Curricular Writing Activities for ELLs
As summer wraps up, we find ourselves contemplating our instructional intentions for the coming school year. My big focus this year: writing.
Of the four language-learning domains (listening, speaking, reading, writing), writing is typically the last to fully develop. We can help our ELLs to develop confidence in this area by providing plenty of opportunities to practice writing skills and build writing stamina. Here are nine fantastic ways to incorporate writing into any lesson, at any grade level, and across all levels of English mastery.
CLASS MURAL
Class murals are interactive anchor charts that encourage text analysis and cooperative talk. In advance, prepare the mural "wall". A long piece of butcher paper turned lengthwise (or several strips of butcher paper taped together) works well. Depending on the class size, the mural may be 5-20 feet long. Also, a variety of print materials related to a topic should also be available- books, magazines, picture cards, student dictionaries or websites. To create the mural, first draw out background knowledge from the entire group. Then, allow students sufficient time to explore resources independently, in pairs or in teams. When ready, students will synthesize information to create a landscape on the mural that includes pictures, words, quotes, etc. To encourage language development, all illustrations should be labeled. Post mural in a visible place. Learners may add to the mural throughout a unit of study as new information is revealed. When spelling or speaking a word related to the topic, students should be asked to refer to the mural as the primary anchor chart.
FEEDBACK JOURNALS
Journaling allows students a healthy expressive outlet while practicing critical writing skills. The feedback component is what makes this strategy an effective one. Each student has a dedicated notebook to be used for the purpose of journaling for the duration of the course or unit. Students may be asked to record free thoughts, respond to direct prompts or create short summaries of daily learning or wonderings. The facilitator has the responsibility to read and respond to students' entries, offering comments, insight, clarification, grammatical notes or additional prompts. A student, in return, may also reply to or comment on the teacher's feedback. Feedback journals act as a conversation piece between the student and instructional guide, foster trust and engagement, and serve as a record of students' writing progress.
GRAFFITI
Graffiti is a cooperative exercise in which all members of a group are invited share awareness about a topic. To begin, arrange students into small cooperative work groups (3 or 5 students work best). Provide each student with a piece of butcher paper or poster-sized Post-It. Assign each group a topic or prompt that is relevant to a current unit of study. Within work groups, students will discuss and record thoughts/illustrations related to the prompt. All students are encouraged to converse and write (different colored makers- one color for each student in the group- work well for this). Use a timer to mark discussions and recording sessions. After a set period of time, rotate the posters from one group to another in a circular fashion. Each group will receive a poster that already contains student insight. Within groups, students will share thoughts on what the previous group recorded before writing new thoughts. This process continues until each poster returns to its "home" group. Posters may be reserved as anchor charts or used to further class discussion.
PARTNER DICTATION
Partner dictation is a fast-paced, simple activity that engages students in all four language-learning domains. To prepare, select a brief passage on a focus topic. Print half the number of copies as students in the class. (Or, choose unique dictation passages and print separately). For the activity, begin by pairing students. Each pair of students stands on one side of the room. Dictation passages are posted in another part of the room (or outside of the room in a hallway or corridor). One student will act as the "runner" and the other as the "recorder". (Students will have a chance to change roles). The "runner" will quickly make trips to and from the printed dictation passage to read it and return to partner to relay the message. The recorder writes what he or she hears. Students work together to edit scripts as they are being written. The runner makes as many trips to the dictation sample as needed for the recorder to capture the whole passage. Roles reverse, with a new dictation passage. Length and complexity of passages should reflect grade and language abilities present in the classroom and should be modified for pair groups as necessary.
QUICK WRITE
One key challenge for ELLs around writing is stamina. It is important to remember that students need to build up to writing longer passages. This is especially true in the upper grades, where lengthy responses are expected. Quick writes are one strategy to aid students in building stamina and structure for writing. Quick writes are set apart from other types of writing in that they purposefully omit planning, organizing, editing and revising (at least in the initial stage). The purpose of a quick write is to have students record as much relevant information related to a topic as they can in a set period of time. The writing period is intentionally limited, often beginning with only 5 or 10 minutes and working up to 15, 20 or 25-minute intervals. In the beginning stages of practices, modifications may be necessary. Early emergent students may need to copy a specific passage or use sentence stems or cloze sentences for support. More advanced students may employ a text on the topic of writing, but will be responsible for paraphrasing important information. Eventually, students will learn to write freely without significant support. To introduce a quick write, first establish a topic and time limit and then model the practice for students. It is also helpful to practice writing one document as a whole class. Finally, students write on their worn. A word bank may be useful. Quick writes should be carried out on a consistent basis and should receive some type of feedback (either from a teacher or peer). If desired, a quick write may be expanded upon to create a fully fleshed out and edited writing piece.
SAGE N’ SCRIBE
(Kagan Activity)
Sage n 'Scribe is a Kagan activity that effectively engages learners in all four language domains. Students work in pairs for this exercise. Generally, pairs use the time to work together in completing comprehension questions related to a topic. To begin, the first student (Sage) will read the first question aloud. The sage will then verbally answer his or her own question. Meanwhile, the second partner (Scribe) records the first partner’s response. The scribe also coaches the sage and/or offers feedback, if necessary. Then, the sage also records his or her response. Finally, the partners switch roles and move on to another question.
THINK-WRITE-PAIR-SHARE
(adapted Kagan strategy)
Think-Write-Pair-Share is a variation on the popular Think-Pair-Share Strategy. For Think-Pair-Share, students are asked to consider a question, given time to think about their response, and then are paired with a partner to share and discuss their reply. Adding the "write" portion deepens students thinking into the question and allows for students to explore an additional language domain. To complete the activity, facilitator poses a question to students related to a text or topic of study. Then, students are given time to process the question and think about their response. The next step calls for students to record their reply on a piece of paper or white board. When students do pair with a partner, they exchange papers. Each student reads his or her partner's contribution aloud. Within partner groups, students work together to discuss, amend, and edit responses. (Applicable texts, dictionaries, word walls or other supports may be used). Responses may be turned in, shared with other classmates, or incorporated into a graphic organizer or class anchor chart.
WRITING IN REVERSE
(based on a lesson by Jackie McAvoy)
This activity asks students to consider "comprehension" questions in order to compose a piece of writing. To complete, present students with a series of questions that are worded in the style of reading comprehension questions. Students are amused when you explain that you brought the questions to class but "lost" the reading passage. Using these questions as thinking points, they will work backward to create a composition. Working with a partner, they will first read all of the questions and write short answers to them. Then, they will use these responses to craft a full writing piece. When finished, students can exchange stories with a peer. Each learner should be able to answer the comprehension questions based on his or her partner’s writing.
WRITING WITH A MENTOR TEXT
Many English language learners can benefit from extra supports when writing. Mentor texts provide students with an exemplary piece of work to follow. They are especially helpful for intermediate and advanced students who are ready to move beyond sentence stems/cloze writing and are working toward independent writing. An appropriate mentor text should be on the same topic, length and writing style (or similar topic, length and writing style) as the piece that students will be expected to produce. Students should be guided, as a whole group or in smaller work groups, to deconstruct the mentor text. To do this, students will identify and explore key features of the text. First, have students identify the purpose of the text (narrative, expository, how-to, etc.). Next, students will explore the passage's organization (sentence structure, paragraph structure, etc.). Finally, students evaluate the "star features" of the text- meaning words, phrases, writing style, voice, figurative language or other items that make the mentor text interesting to read. Once students have had a sufficient time to digest and understand the components of the mentor text, they can use this passage to guide their independent writing.
Ready to dig deeper? These activities (and many others) were created by Refugee Classroom as part of the comprehensive EduSkills platform. Learn more at eduskills.us.
EduSkills is an educational services and school data analysis company serving schools and districts Pre-K through 12th grade. EduSkills collaborates with schools and districts in order to help teachers and administrators become high-performing outcome based educators with a clear focus on high level student achievement.
The Power of Narrative Storytelling with Emergent Multilinguals
Personal narratives can be a valuable teaching and learning tool. For refugee and immigrant language learners, the process of narrative storytelling can be especially significant, as it fulfills multiple aims. Storytelling can motivate Emergent Multilinguals to engage in the new language, develop essential writing skills, process critical life events, and foster inter-peer relationships.
Narrative expression is an essential component of our humanness. We are drawn to share pieces of ourselves through storytelling, and we discover our interconnectedness in doing so. For many of our students, storytelling is also part of a rich cultural tradition- one that is intrinsically embedded in nearly every facet of social functioning.
In the classroom, setting, we can employ personal narratives as a means to draw students into language learning. Meanwhile, we can draw out details that allow us to know and understand our students better. The strategy is helpful in that it can be implemented across the language acquisition spectrum and can be scaffolded in a variety of ways.
“Storytelling can be a very valid means to experiment with the new language in a variety of contexts. It is an accessible option at various stages of the language acquisition process, and it is a skill that can develop in accordance with a learner’s expanding linguistic capabilities.” -The Newcomer Student
Additionally, storytelling is a powerful strategy for working through transition shock. Transition shock is a broad umbrella that encompasses transition, trauma, culture shock, and stress-related anxiety. From Elements of Behavioral Health, “Talking about [experiences] helps organize memories and feelings into a more manageable and understandable psychological ‘package’. Telling the story, or developing a trauma narrative, is a significant step in the trauma recovery process no matter what array of symptoms is present.”
“There is an additional dimension to storytelling that can be profoundly cathartic and healing. The particular exercise of capturing human feelings and experiences, through fictional characters or biographical ones, allows students opportunities to release, revisit, question, and make sense of poignant life events. The retelling of personal experiences creates a fertile ground for self-discovery and social understanding.” -The Newcomer Student
Where Do We Start?
Family trees are an excellent start point. In research and focusing on the aspect of lineage, students are invited to work within a safe space, sharing what they feel is comfortable and “right” to them (this may be particularly relevant for refugee students who transition with family members who are not necessarily birth parents). This activity may also draw from parents’ existing funds of knowledge and encourage caretaker participation in students’ academic pursuits.
Incorporating heritage language is one way to increase intrinsic motivation. Constructing a family tree can also generate vocabulary connections for English words like father, grandmother, or uncle. Sharing a family tree in s safe learning space can benefit a learning community and lead to increased student ownership and self-esteem. Constructing a family tree can also generate vocabulary connections for English words like father, grandmother, or uncle.
The included samples were created by third grade students.
Heritage Books
Heritage reports, or heritage books, expand on the process of sharing students’ original stories. These are multi-step projects that “are designed to guide students in expressing their personal stories with others via sheltered instruction” (The Newcomer Student). Heritage books also enhance meaningful vocabulary expansion and promote empathic, tolerant school-based relationships.
A detailed description of heritage book planning and building is available in The Newcomer Student: An Educator's Guide to Aid Transition, available HERE.
Areas that are worthwhile to explore include:
· About Me
· U.S. Flag/flag study
· Alternative country flag(s)
· Traditional dress
· Traditional food
· Traditional customs
· Traditional housing
· Celebrities and pop culture
· Alphabet/number systems
· Family tree
· Family photos
· Emigration story
· Future hopes and wishes
The following samples are from third grade students.
“Heritage book authors are usually very eager to document, show, and share their projects with an audience. Meanwhile, they are practicing cooperative language structures and cultural normative values (handshaking and simple greetings for each guest) throughout the sharing process!” (The Newcomer Student)
Personal narratives are certainly worth including as a viable part of classroom learning and relationship building. Share your own experience enacting personalized storytelling with students to @ELYaafouriCLDE, #ELstorytelling #heritagebook
Using Sentence Starters with ELLs
The initial stages of language acquisition can be overwhelming for Newcomer learners. We can support these students (and all ELLs!) by incorporating “sheltering” techniques into our teaching practice. Sheltering strategies help to make content more accessible to language learners. Sentence starters are one type of sheltered instruction.
Sentence starters are helpful for language learners in that they can be used to scaffold both oral and written expression. Also, when learners are provided with sentence starters, they are relieved of some of the pressure to structure an entire reply. This allows students to focus on the body, or "meat", of their response.
“Sentence starters provide opportunities for ELLs to successfully participate in classroom activities in structured, purposeful ways.”
–Louise El Yaafouri, The Newcomer Student, 2016
When introducing sentence starters to learners who are within the early stages of language acquisition, it is best to limit the number of prompts to choose from. In fact, one or two options are plenty. As students grow in their language development, the number of options can be increased. With time and consistent opportunities to practice, learners will eventually develop efficacy in using a broad range of starters.
To make the most out of using sentence starters, the specific prompts should be visible to students as they are speaking and/or writing. Appropriate usage should be modeled- by the instructor, by video, or by other students, or in some combination of all of these. Eventually, students will become more independent in their production sentence starters.
As learners move closer to mastery with a particular set of sentence starters, these supports can be gradually lessened and eventually removed. Meanwhile, more complex strategies can be introduced- with new supports, if needed. Through this process of continuous scaffolding, we can guide our students closer to language proficiency and deeper content understanding.
Included is a collection of key sentence starters for academic participation. The prompts are organized into two categories: listening capacity and speaking capacity. They are suitable across grade and age levels.
Do you currently use sentence starters in your classroom? Share your experiences and contribute new prompts on Twitter @NewcomerESL #sentencestarters.